Good News Bulletin

Recent graduates Trenton Miller and Topher Edwards made the most of their senior-year internships with the Rattlesnake Fire Protection District's fleet maintenance facility north of Elizabeth.

Aaron Lutter, fleet manager, and Eric Schrieber, fleet mechanic, visited Derek Spohn's auto repair class early in the 2023-24 school year to tell students about their work keeping fire trucks and ambulances on the road for the Rattlesnake department as well as Elizabeth's and Kiowa's fire and rescue departments. Trenton and Topher expressed interest in starting internships to learn about working on large vehicles.

As they explain in this video, that opportunity led to additional exploration on Topher's career path, as Lutter and Schrieber are fully trained firefighters and EMTs along with being mechanics.

For both interns, the chance to receive specialized training has positioned them well as they start working toward their careers of service.

After a year-long delay, work began this week on the Elizabeth High School auto shop. The first few steps may also seem like they are taking extra time but, similar to the past several months, the process becomes more complicated due to federal grant funding requirements and the state permitting process, both of which involve more steps than a private residence or standard commercial construction.

The footprint of the building has been marked out, and excavation for the concrete footings is under way. Each hole must be inspected by a state inspector, then the concrete footing can be poured. Each footing must also be inspected.

This phase of auto shop construction, including installation of car lifts, is scheduled to be completed in September. Completion of the entire project will be contingent on the district raising more funds to cover the cost of finishing the classroom and bathroom sections. The price of the project also grew due to federal requirements that were above and beyond standard construction expenses and design.

A specialized water-tower repair crew from Kansas is on track to complete repairs to the inside bottom of the district's water tower this week, and it should be refilled by Saturday. This effort began last fall and required locating a company with the skill and ability to work on the type of tank owned by the district. "We appreciate the support of the Town of Elizabeth during this difficult situation," said Superintendent Dan Snowberger.

Major repairs had to be made to the pipes leading into the water tower as well as the bottom of the tank as sand was getting into the water, which is used to irrigate Elizabeth sports fields. Sediment was not only slowing the flow of the irrigation water, but also necessitating repeated replacement of sprinkler heads that would jam because of the sand.

Repairing the tower required it to be drained and fields to be irrigated with water from the Town of Elizabeth's system, which is not only much more expensive but had to be limited. This necessitated a three-times-a-week watering schedule for the football, soccer and baseball fields. Once the water tower is filled again, regular irrigation can resume over the weekend, and the fields should green up again. The district brought in a turf specialist to examine the fields and has verify that they have gone dormant and not simply died.

Elizabeth School District is opening a Childcare Care Center for our community:

• Infant care: ages six weeks through 18 months

• Toddler care: ages 18 months through two and a half

• Each classroom will have a 1:5 caregiver-to-child ratio

• Capacity of 10 children in each classroom

• Center will be licensed for 20 children

Currently the center will run through the school-year calendar. With interest, we will extend through summer.

Send all questions and inquiries to: Karena Dohman, director of early childhood

Elbert County has teamed up with the Elbert County Communication Authority, fire departments and towns to implement CodeRED, an emergency notification system, free to Elbert County residents. The CodeRED system delivers calls, emails and texts for emergency notifications, weather warnings, and other important community updates.

CodeRED uses technology that allows geographic targeting of calls, coupled with a telephone calling system capable of delivering a pre-recorded message directly to homes and businesses at the rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour. The system's main purpose is to notify citizens or groups of citizens in emergency situations, but can deliver non-emergency notifications as well.

CodeRED Weather Warning will deliver severe weather warnings to your telephone and/or cell phone within seconds after being issued by the National Weather Service. You will only get the warning if you physically live in the area that is in the warning.

Parents can sign up for Code Red directly on the Elbert County Office of Emergency website.

Please note: The CodeRED system is separate from Elizabeth School District's notification system. In the event of school-related emergency notifications, including closures or delays due to winter weather, ESD will continue to send notifications via phone call, text and/or email, based on parents' preferences in the Infinite Campus system.

Aug. 6 & 8 – EMS/EHS student check-in/registration

Aug. 12 – EMS student registration make-up day

Aug. 12 – Board of Education meeting, 6 p.m.

Aug. 14 – First day of school for Grade 6 and 9 only (half day)

Aug. 15 – First day of school for EMS and EHS

Aug. 15-16 – Elementary student orientation/assessment days

Aug. 19 – First day of school for elementary schools

EMS sports calendar

EHS sports calendar

Registration is open for the Independence Day 5K Fun Run/Walk on July 4, a partnership of the Elizabeth Cardinal Club and Elizabeth Park and Recreation District.

The Elizabeth Cardinal Club is a nonprofit organization focused on raising funds to support scholarship opportunities for student athletes continuing their education beyond high school. Registration is open at ElizabethPR.com.

The day of the race will include a free pancake breakfast provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Check-in runs from 7:15-7:45 a.m, and the race starts at 8 a.m. at Evans Park. Prizes will be given to the top three runners in each division.

Pre-registration fees (June 1-26):

• $30 for adults (includes t-shirt and swag bag)
• $20 for children 12 and under
• $100 for a family four-pack

Day-of registration fees:

• $40 for adults
• $25 for children 12 and under
• $120 for a family four-pack

No refunds will be given. For those unable to attend, registration constitutes a tax-deductible donation to the Elizabeth Cardinal Club.

The Elizabeth Education Foundation partners with Elizabeth School District in numerous ways throughout the year to support students and teachers. This volunteer-led, independent fundraising foundation provides scholarships for graduating seniors, classroom grants for teachers, and the STARS Awards for outstanding citizenship among students.

Learn more about the EEF at its website.

American Furniture Warehouse maintains a year-round opportunity to help Elizabeth Schools anytime you buy home furnishings.

When you check out at any AFW location, just mention "Elizabeth Schools" or the Partner ID, EC1SD, and AFW will donate 2% of the purchase to the Elizabeth Education Foundation. Additionally, anything purchased of the Beautyrest, Serta or Simmons brands results in an additional 2%. This includes online orders, too.

See the attached flier for more details.